A Foal is Born Next Door.

The internet has been down since the last blog, we had a thunderstorm Friday night and it blew the router. I did have a surge protector but not for the phone so have had to purchase a better one.This happens too often and its expensive having to replace routers every few months.
I have been in LIverpool attending a Trustee Meeting , on the way home I stopped at Sister Sandras in Prestatyn, had a cup of tea and left at 12.30pm.The 1 hour journey home  took 5 hours! There were diversions due to roadworks and of course my motorway sign reading abilities are about as good as my map reading ones so I spent a delightful 3 hours driving  in circles around Clwyd. I am to embarassed to say where the other extra unnecessary hour took me, let it suffice it was the wrong direction altogether and there  was an opportuntity to visit another walled city other than Caernarfon where I was actually supposed to be heading.
The new joint Liverpool and Wales Spring newsletter is now ready to distribute and I am hoping it will bring some donations in return. This mail out has been kindly paid for by a supporter; I wish I could afford another bilingual newsletter but funds have simply not been available to do so and although we might be elegible this year for a grant towards costs from the Welsh Language Board, we still have to fork out around £700 of charity money.Maybe next year?

Just before I left for Liverpool I arranged for a mum cat and her four babies to go into a foster home and today a heavily pregnant cat was admitted so it looks as though the dreaded 'kitten season' is shortly to start;before long all our pens will be full with kittens and at the end of the year we will be left with another batch of 'teenagers' to care for and neuter.Inevitably a few black cats will be left behind each season -We still have a few of these half grown cats left from the last litters- Black of course, the left behind ones  always are! Pictured here is the new pregnant cat called Betty by her finder(unsure as to whether this is after some mothers do have them Betty,Betty the hotpot making barmaid  in Coronation Street, designer Betty Barclay or |Betty Boop or maybe none of the aforementioned and she just liked the name ?)She is a nice looking cat though she has two nasty sores on one side of her which need looking at by the vet.
When I arrived home it was to hear that a young staffordshire bull terrier had been admitted and is being fostered by Cariad(she always has the staffs) He is just 8 months old and his owner was unable to cope with him, I cannot think why as he is a typical pup,loves everybody and he even gets on well with cats and other dogs. His only problem is that he appears to be food possessive around other animals but that is easy enough to deal with, otherwise he is a happy outgoing and very loveable little dog.
Sadly Lad the middle aged collie has been returned and he is currently in boarding kennels until a foster place becomes available.I am so disappointed for him.He was great with my dogs but it seems that when he is on a lead, like so many canines he is aggressive towwards other dogs he meets. Will anyone take him on with this problem?I would hate to think there is nobody out there for him.
Mion and Elspeth are doing a collection outsideTescos in Holyead today,its a beautiful day so there should be plenty of people about, lets hope there are lots of generous animal loving ones! Mion is having some repairs done to her rescue cat pens so she can be ready for the influx of mums and babies. Last year she and the other foster 'mums' helped with dozens of cat families and without them we would have struggled to help as many as we did.

Mei is now waiting for another operation to fix the torn ligaments in her wrist, they were unable to do the work at her last appointment and she is expecting a call to go in very soon.Pictured here(reluctantly) sporting her sling.

FInally a photograph of Neighbour Wills mare and foal, she gave birth just hours before this photo was taken and was a very proud mum.Last years foal died soon after birth and I have been keeping an eye on this one as she is in the fields adjoining ours .I was worried when we had a few days of torrrential rain and an icy wind but she seems to be doing well. Of all baby animals I love foals the best,there is something special about them, their long spindly legs and their awkward gait as they follow their mums around the fields makes me go completely gaga.As a child my cousins would coo and gurgle at newborn babies and beg to push their prams whilst I could not work out what the fuss was all about, preferring instead to walk a dog though I did(and still do) a fair bit of cooing myself but over litters of kittens and puppies and especially baby horses.Small wonder I ended up working with them.